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Venezuelan diplomatic officials are at odds with President Hugo Chávez Government’s seeming lack of concern, over a large portion of Essequibo being placed under the control of a British organization. They say that those lands are being claimed by that country. According to an article in the July 9 edition of the El Universal, a Venezuelan newspaper,Undefeated Air Max 97 For Sale, its Venezuelan Foreign Ministry has not to date made any statement criticizing the decision.Last June, Guyana proposed that a British organization use its tropical forest to develop environmental programmes in exchange for financial aid. According to the proposal, Guyana would assign 21.6 million hectare of its rainforest, of which 15.9 million hectares are claimed by Venezuela.The initiative was proposed by President Bharrat Jagdeo.According to Sadio Garavini, a former Venezuelan ambassador to Guyana and an expert in the Essequibo claims, the Venezuelan Government should express a clear stance with respect to President Jagdeo’s proposal.Garavini said that the announcement made by the Guyana Government would have provoked a forceful answer from past Venezuelan diplomatic authorities.“Venezuela has to analyze the Guyanese agreement and must take a clear stance in defense of our interests,” he pointed out.The former Venezuelan ambassador to Guyana also said that it was necessary to know the terms of the agreement that the Guyana Government is willing to approve.“We must know whether Guyana is going to get an important amount of money in exchange for protecting the forest, since there are international funds related to this type of operations, or whether it is an agreement to set up a sustainable and ecological project.”Garavini said that the unilateral cession of territory by the Government of Guyana is due to Chávez’s previous statements.The Venezuelan president said some time ago that he is not concerned by new investments in the Essequibo. For Garavini, an opportunity has been lost to affect the status quo of Guyana, which is in possession of the territory.“Once we lose this negotiating tool, Guyana’s authorities will no longer be interested in negotiating. On the contrary, President Chávez has said that the territorial claim is a result of the US pressure as part of the Cold War. Therefore, we wonder why should Guyana negotiate after President Chávez has said that.” |
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